Wow! It has been a long time since I have been able to post. Internet has not been available for quite sometime, soooo...do I have a lot to tell you!!!
Roughly two weeks ago, Dad, Clare, and Roy went down to Freetown (the capitol city) to try once again to get our shipment out of the quay. For those of you who don't know, we had shipped a container full of ministry supplies last year, and since then have struggled to clear it out of the shipyard. The three of them, with the help of a wonderful man in Freetown, were finally able to clear it on February 29th. We are so pleased! One of the most crucial items we needed was our homeschool curriculum for both the present year and the oncoming year. I am so happy to have the books, because, needless to say it is a challenge coming up with a way to teach a 7th grader, a fourth grader, and a third grader without books or curriculum... all the while teaching two levels of pastoral students a total of 6 different classes without any books or curriculum either. I have never been so happy to see a box of books in my life!!!
Shortly before Roy, Dad, and Clare left, we adopted a pair of Red River Hogs... who of course had to be fed with a syringe, since I have NOTHING else to do. ;) (There are no baby bottles to be found any where in the town of Kabala) I am happy to report that one of them is doing just fine, sadly the other didn't make it. During the time when we were trying to nurse them along, however, they had to be kept in our bathroom, which was just a WHOLE LOT of fun! In fact, one night as I was trying to shower, I had two genets, two red river hogs, and a cat ( he was badly wounded in a fight with something) in the bathroom with me! ARGHHH!
Within a day or two of the others going to Freetown, someone brought me a VERY new baby monkey to feed, again with a syringe. Needless to say, for the 10 days they were gone, I wasn't bored AT ALL! :) To top it off, we had a bush fire right behind the campus just a few days before they returned. The men (students) went to fight it and were able to get it stopped, but there were some tense moments as you may see from the picture. This picture was taken from our verandah. Abby, Caleb, and Seth were especially nervous as I took tools and drinking water to the men who were fighting the fire, and was gone for about an hour. If you have never witnessed a brush fire or forest fire first hand, you may not understand this, but if you have, you will understand their nervousness. However, as one of the students here told me, "your children are like rubber, they are strong and they can handle anything without complaining... you aren't like other white men" I was SO PROUD of my kids when she said that...and I praise God that He blessed my children with the ability to handle things...and the sense to know that the only reason they can is because He helps them.